13 Social Media Marketing News Stories to Watch Out For - Oct 2017

They’re here. Keeping track of the changes on social media can be a nightmare, but don’t be afraid. Welcome to our new ongoing series of Social Media News Stories, to keep you up to date on the current trends.

With Friday the 13th coming, and Halloween following close behind, we couldn’t miss the opportunity to add some extra bite with some Horror Movie theming. So arm yourselves, stick together, and let's see if we can make it through this alive.

Social Media Marketing News: Instagram

1. Instagram introduces more comment controls.

Not every monster stays under the bed. If you market on Instagram regularly, or any social media, you’ll know full well there’s plenty of trolls lurking online too. However, following their #KindComments initiative in September, Instagram has now introduced more comment controls.

It’s easy to adjust who can comment on your Instagram posts. - Instagram.

You can now choose who can comment on your posts, whether that’s everyone or specific groups of followers. So you can target your posts more efficiently whilst avoiding less savory commenters.

Plus, with Instagram’s expanded comment block now available in Arabic, French, German and Portuguese (as well as English), you can choose to automatically hide any comments that violate Instagram’s community guidelines.

2. Instagram adds interactive polls to Instagram Stories.

We’re at that scene. The villain is running around bumping off our heroes one by one, and suddenly, they decide to split up. You sit there shouting at the screen for them to stop, but no. They don’t listen. It’s so frustrating.

And that frustration can be felt by your audience when they can’t feedback to you. But, Instagram has stepped in to help. With their new poll sticker in Instagram Stories, you can ask your consumers instant questions and easily compare the results. It’s a great way to add more interaction to your Instagram visual storytelling.

Social Media Marketing News: Twitter

3. Twitter doubles the characters.

We all love a horror sequel. Double the scares, twice the gore, two times the badly animated sharks. And just imagine the benefits if your tweets could have twice the content.

Well, that could be an option for you in the near future. Twitter has just announced the potential for 280 character tweets, and lots of people are talking about it.

But with 9% of all English tweets hitting the current 140 character limit, this change could dramatically increase your content creativity and impact. Though currently only available for a small group of users, don’t be surprised to see this rolled out soon.

Social Media Marketing News: Facebook

4. Facebook adds ‘Recent Ad Activity’ tab.

We all know that moment in a scary movie. Something runs past in the shadows just out of sight. The protagonist turns. Did they see it? Did they not?

The same can be said about your consumer whilst flicking through your social media news stories. They could miss your ad first time around, or struggle to remember the specifics.

But the new Facebook ‘Recent Ad Activity’ tab can help that. Your consumers can revisit adverts they have interacted with over the past three months, meaning you’ll get improved awareness.

An easy way to find past ad interaction for Facebook users. - Techcrunch.

Plus, users can save any adverts they’ve seen for later use, helping them remember where they first saw them, and help you track attribution. Available in the US, Facebook is assessing which other territories to test the tool in.

5. Facebook increases offline interaction.

Let’s agree now, as marketers, we have slight stalkerish tendencies. Okay, we’re not quite at the ‘Misery’ type levels, but we do hoard a lot of data regarding our consumers’ on and offline habits.

Now, using Facebook’s offline conversion tools, you can make the most of your consumers’ offline data, such as store visits or phone calls, to create targeted advertising that re-engages users.

6. Facebook integrates with ZipRecruiter.

If you’re in trouble, you need someone with a particular set of skills. You could look for them, pursue them, but actually, it’s now easier just to recruit them with ZipRecruiter.

It’s now easier to post recruitment ads of Facebook with ZipRecruiter. - ZipRecruiter.

Following their partnership with Facebook, if you’re looking to recruit, you can automatically post vacancies to Facebook when advertising on the ZipRecruiter platform, increasing your potential reach for workers with the particular skills you’re looking for.

7. Facebook introduces Insights to Go.

I know what you did last summer. No really. I do. Maybe not you specifically, but with Facebook’s new Insights to Go, you can find even more Facebook stats and data for your campaign, and share or download them instantly.

Social Media Marketing News: LinkedIn

8. Microsoft integrates the LinkedIn Profile Card into Office 365.

Imagine in a horror movie, if the protagonist could check out someone’s profile before meeting them. They probably wouldn’t end up in a dark alley with a knife-wielding crazy after all.

Okay, this may be an extreme case, but with the new integration of the LinkedIn Profile Card into Office 365, you can find out more about your contacts before you first meet up. With one click, you can find out their past employment or interests, and at least avoid the awkward small talk that comes from first meetings.

9. LinkedIn polled 9,000 members and shared its findings.

When it comes to fighting a scary monster, you don’t want to go in armed with just a rusty pen and a badly laid plan. The same can be said about your online marketing content strategy.

Luckily, LinkedIn has provided some great findings it found after polling 9000 members. Like the 44% of people who thought the last piece of content they enjoyed was inspirational and got straight to the point. Plus, other great LinkedIn insights that can help you prepare further.

Social Media Marketing News: YouTube

10. YouTube changes rules regarding external link End-Cards.

The end of the film. The villain is defeated and buried. The credits roll, and then, suddenly, a fist pumps out of the ground, ready to set up the sequel. Or, in the case of a YouTube video, you get an End-Card promoting an external website.

Social Media Marketing News: Pinterest

12. Pinterest adds Hashtags.

With more pins than Pinhead’s head, Pinterest needed a way to help people find (and share) their pins more effectively. Now, with the help of the Hashtag, you can now share pins and make them easier to search, just as you would on Twitter, Facebook, and other social network sites. So it’s now even easier to make the most of Pinterest for Business.

Social Media Marketing News: Other

13. Bumble launches Bumble Bizz.

Now, something you don’t often see in a classic horror movie is a powerful female lead. Often portrayed as the damsel in distress, women got a raw deal.

But not at Bumble Bizz. Continuing the success of the Bumble dating and social app, Bumble Bizz is entering the recruitment and networking market, focused on empowering women to make the first move.

14. The rise of It.

I couldn’t leave it at (unlucky) 13 items. Surely, that would be tempting the horrormeisters, and I don’t want any killer clowns after me.

Speaking of clowns, unless you’ve been living under a rock (or in a storm drain) for the last month, you can’t help but know how the It Movie has taken the internet by storm. It was supported by a suitably creepy marketing campaign and quickly became a Twitter meme.

Until Next Time...

Well, it looks like we made it without meeting any clowns, zombies, or zombie clowns. But there’s still plenty of time left until Halloween. And plenty of time for the next big social media marketing news story. You can keep track of what's relevant to you by signing up to our Talkwalker Alerts.